Foreign aid flow to Bangladesh during the July-November period of the current fiscal (2013-14) was somewhat higher at $ 987.34 million as against $ 969.26 million fetched during the same period of the last fiscal (2012-13).
Of the amount disbursed during the five-month period, loans amounted to $ 740.72 million while the grants $ 246.62 million, said an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
The official said that the overall commitment for the July-November period of the current fiscal (FY14) was $ 1,437.37 million — $ 1,262.50 million as loans and $ 174.87 million as grants, reports UNB.
During the five-month period, the repayment stood at $ 403.97 million — $ 329.50 million against principal amount and $ 74.47 million as interest.
However, the repayment for the same period of the last fiscal (FY13) was $ 394.50 million — $ 315.56 million against principal amount and $ 78.94 million as interest.
Of the major multilateral and bilateral donors, the World Bank provided the highest amount of $ 287.17 million as loans while around $ 55 million as grants.
Talking to UNB, another official at the ERD said that utilization of foreign aid has been affected to some extent since the country is passing through political turmoil over the last couple of months.
He said that the implementation rate of the foreign-financed development projects was lower this time, which resulted in moderate aid disbursement.
According to ERD, although the foreign aid flow to Bangladesh in the last fiscal (FY13) was around $ 3,140 million lower than its commitment, the aid disbursement was higher at $ 2,786.13 million compared to $ 2,126.47 million in the previo fiscal (FY12).
The commitment for the FY13 was much higher at $ 5,926.05 million compared to $ 4,764.52 million during the same period of the previo foscal (FY12).
Of the disbursed amount of $ 2,786.13 million for the FY13, Bangladesh received $ 2134.3 million in loans and $ 651.7 million as grants.
Of the disbursed amount for the last fiscal (FY13), the IDA of the World Bank provided the highest amount of $ 901.9 million. This was followed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) $ 670.4 million, JICA $ 630.4 million, the UN system’s $ 203.9 million, IDB $ 10.2 million, and the EU $ 68.0 million.
